Brawn GP

[Rick Draper]

Well, Honda F1 have been saved and are now named Brawn GP. Hopefully the car will be well up there. Ross Brawn clearly thinks the team was worth saving as he would not have bothered saving them IMHO.

[Fenix]

Thats good news. Means button can stop worrying about having to drive touring cars or moving to nascar lol.

Will be interesting to see how their car performs. They've got a good team there so expect them to be more with it this season. Hopefully they'll have a decent car and Button can live up the his self hype.

[spanishfly]

Need a full grid or it'll be so boring

[GDN16v]

They will need to deliver results! Its the same team members and drivers, also using Mercedes engines which everyone knows are more than powerful enough.!

Buttons self hype is just that - absolutely nothing to shout about in the slightest!lmao

[Fenix]

They will need to deliver results! Its the same team members and drivers, also using Mercedes engines which everyone knows are more than powerful enough.!

Buttons self hype is just that - absolutely nothing to shout about in the slightest!lmao

Thats my point. He's not even been able to outdrive his team mate for the past year even thought he's a smooth driver and the no traction control regs should have worked in his favour last year and yet he claims if he was given a seat at mclaren he could do what Hamilton has done.

Don't get me wrong think he's a good driver and should be mid table given the right car but he's not great.

Think this years championship will be between Raikonnen, Alonso, Hamilton and Kubica. Vettel is looking good but would be surprised if the red bull is fast enough to put up a challenge. But guess we don't know until Oz.

I reckon Massa will be back to playing second fiddle at ferrari this year.

[Brett]

Its going to be fascinating watching the Brawn GP car, I just hope its not to heavily compromised by accomodationg such a late change in engines to Mercedes.

I think Buttons a great driver still, end of the day when he had a decent car he was a long way in front of his team mates - just needs to get there and stay there which he hasnt done when he had the chance, hes got a lot to prove still and doesnt realise it. I think 2 years at the back will make him hungrier and thus if/when he gets back to the front he'll maybe be able to stay there. There are loads of drivers out there who are considered great but have done less than Button did in competative cars when they've had them (trulli, fissichella, barrichello, coulthard, kovalinen etc) so he aint that bad. Hes in the top 10 drivers on the grid, and teams like Honda and Williams dont go to court over him for the fun of it

Cant wait for Aus, should be awesome.

[Trevor]

Button's long contract at BAR/Honda made him lazy. His ass needs to be on the line for his mind to concentrate.

[mattc]

They will be using Merc engines this year as well so might have a better chance

[Rick Draper]

I would love it if they were right up near the front using the new Brawn GP car and Mercedes engines. Would be one up the pipe for Honda.

[lee303]

much as i'd like to see ross brawn do well, i think they'll be playing catch up for most of the year, what with the in season testing ban and all, i also think they should have gone for senna over barrichello, might have actually made button try a bit harder, as he wouldnt want to be upstaged by a rookie, but whatever, its good for the sport to have all the teams on the grid
the renault is looking very good at the mo, and ofcourse i think ferrari will do well, mclaren look a bit shaky though, still running their 08 rear wing and hamiltons car fire day before yesterday, toyota seems to promise much, but they always do and it never materialises, so its alonso vs kimi for the title for me

[Brett]

yeah McLaren causing concern just now, to me Renault appear to have struggled in testing, yet to set any decent times?

Ferrari have as ever done a good job it would seem. Not making any predictions just yet, far to early and big question marks over Kimi after last year. Also, if the Mclarens anywhere near the pace Hamilton will be in the mix too, not forgetting Kubica either....

[lee303]

alonso was fastest in jerez t'other day, http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73556, i think they'll be there or there abouts, especially with him, as, much to many mclaren fans chargrin, he actually does bring a few tenths to any team
i think the cars will suit kimi better this year, but like you say, bit early to say, although chatting to a pal who works at redbull, many teams are worried about BMW, especially as fota very nearly got KERS dropped, with BMW being the only ones to want to keep it, so they must have a pretty tasty setup

[Brett]

I can respect Alonso's ability and what he brings to a team, I think events of 2007 are well and truly in the past now. I didnt catch that story although Im now subscribed to autosport, for £4 a month its a great site!

BMW have been developing this car for ages now, if they dont threaten then theres got to be big questions asked about not only whats gone wrong, but they will have major egg on their faces after ditching the 08 car while they were still well in the hunt for the title.

Im really hoping for something wide open this year, would be great to see a 4 way fight with kubica, a ferrari, alonso and hamilton.

[LEE69]

Close shave then button nearly without a drive
Not long now till the start

[Paul]

How many people will he have to loose from the team though?

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=37158

[lee303]

I can respect Alonso's ability and what he brings to a team, I think events of 2007 are well and truly in the past now. I didnt catch that story although Im now subscribed to autosport, for £4 a month its a great site!

BMW have been developing this car for ages now, if they dont threaten then theres got to be big questions asked about not only whats gone wrong, but they will have major egg on their faces after ditching the 08 car while they were still well in the hunt for the title.

Im really hoping for something wide open this year, would be great to see a 4 way fight with kubica, a ferrari, alonso and hamilton.

yeah autosport are pretty much the best f1 site about tbh, i get the mag too, i'd like to see a big fight this year, but i just cant see it happening, it seems a bit far fetched tha with all the changes more than tow teams will find the right combination of KERS, aero, reliability and driver to make a serious contender for the whole season, but i am looking forward to it, and even just having threads like this pop up makes me excited ro the start of the season

How many people will he have to loose from the team though?

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=37158

a few, but quite a bit less than if the team had just been binned totally

[spanishfly]

Can't wait

[Rick Draper]

TBH as long as they are in the mix with red bull and williams at the start i think that would be a nice point to work from.

A man of Brawns caliber must believe they have a good car of i dont believe he would have put his name to the team and helped save them if he thought they were in for another season like the last 2 have been. He could have walked away with a nice big payout off Honda.

[spanishfly]

Exactly, the car must be capable!

[Rick Draper]

It would seem they are not all the slow as well. Depends on fuel levels clearly but its not bad when you think the car has only had a quick shakedown!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73631

[Paul]

Hope they do well

[lee303]

dont get me wrong, the car will be technically brilliant as the team is sound, but you cant replicate track miles in the tunnel or on a computer, so i think the reliability will tell at the begining of the season, and it remains to be seen how well financed the team will be, but at least you know the leadership is there now, unlike it had been with honda, what with japan meddling all the time and making decisions like getting rid of willis, adds another interesting dmension to the season though thats for sure!

[Rick Draper]

I would love it, just love it if Mclaren are **** this season.

[lee303]

they're not looking great, still running with last years rear wing, but, much as i hate to say it, their new floor looks interesting,http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73642
but i cant think of a time when they had a good car three years in a row

[Rick Draper]

Nope and its the first real time where they have had to start with a freshish sheet of paper so no Newey evolution for them this season. Its quite a big test imho.